Monday, January 30, 2012

Milano City Sprints

Today I flew back to Europe for the next set of races. There is a good connection at our hotel here in Switzerland, so it's probably time to get some pictures up from the city sprints in Milano.

The race was in a park right in downtown Milano. The grass was green and the trees had leaves on them. It was a surreal scene. In this picture, the organizers are in the early stages of setting up the course.

The snow got trucked in and spread out bit by bit.

The finished product. The track was in excellent shape.

Ready to get after it.

Seriously... how cool is this venue?

World Cup. Fact.

This is how the snow was contained. So much work to build this track.

Loving it.

Old Glory.

The servicemen were only allowed 25 minutes on the course for testing. The ski depot was chaos as everyone got organized.

Just before the allotted testing time, the techs lined up like a mass start race. One of the course marshals fired a gun and it was one. People came pouring out of the ski depot. It was lucky no one broke equipment.

Kikkan - ultra focused. Keep the bases of those races skis down to avoid prying eyes.

Getting ready. Kikkan is second from the left.

Kikkan is a rock star, and for good reason. Random people (like this guy) were constantly asking to get their picture with her.

We had pizza one night.

The boxes for the team sprint. Between each leg of the relay, the athletes would rush over to have us remake their skis.

Before the team sprint.

So fast. You have no idea.

Silver medal.

Jessie, me, and Kikkan. Super fun to be part of the team.

I will be here in Switzerland until Sunday, February 5. From there we head to Riga, Latvia.